


What Do We Do After We've Done Our Research?

by Debi_C



Series: The Drunken Colonel Saga [6]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-10
Updated: 2012-05-10
Packaged: 2017-11-05 03:34:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/402008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Debi_C/pseuds/Debi_C
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel and Samantha discuss what they have done and learned since the Bar-B-Que.<br/>The series is not finished yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Do We Do After We've Done Our Research?

Daniel absentmindedly wandered into Sam's laboratory. She looked up at him briefly, but the experiment that she was working on was in a touchy stage, so she mumbled 'hi' to him and continued to work on her device.

This visit was not unusual. Often, when Daniel hit a snag in a translation he was working on, he would leave his office and wander around the hallways of the SGC, thinking. The other personnel generally ignored him, allowing him and his free ranging contemplations both the privacy and liberty to meander aimlessly. However, at some point in time, the gears in his thought process would mesh and he'd head back to his office to record where his intuitive leaps had led him.

Sam Carter was a classic straight-line thinker. To her 1 + 1 + 1 always equaled 3. With Daniel, 1 & 1 & 1 sometimes equaled 3, sometimes it equaled 111 and once in a while it was a two lane black top with a white stripe down the middle.

Jack O'Neill was the only one who could even come close to following Daniel. To Jack, a road always led you to where you were going from the top of the mountain to the foot of the hill; but sometimes if you went to the shoulder and jumped off the cliff you'd get to the bottom faster. He just couldn't tell you what kind of landing you would make, so he preferred the road not the cliff. Daniel always found the fall exhilarating and was excited to make the landing, no matter how hard the ground was when he hit.

After returning Carter's absentminded greeting, Daniel wandered over to the coffeepot and poured the last dollop of lukewarm coffee into the extra cup he kept stashed there. He eyed it suspiciously then sat the mug down and started making a fresh pot. He dug a bit beneath the Folgers packages and finally located his 'private' stash of home ground coffee. He kept one in each of their labs because they never knew where they'd wind up working late in the evening. Sometimes they'd be here in the lab, sometimes in his office/ library. Daniel went over to the small refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of spring water. This he added to the Mr. Coffee then poured a precise amount of the hand-ground coffee beans into the cup receptacle of the coffee maker. This he allowed to brew as he emptied his own mug and Sam's in the small lab sink and rinsed them out preparing the mugs to receive his special blend. When the hot, rich russet liquid had finished brewing, he poured it into the two mugs. Daniel then grudgingly added the almond flavored powdered creamer to Sam's cup to her liking and brought both the mugs over to where she was working. He sat her lightened version down on the coaster next to her and he stood back to sip his own steaming, fragrant liquid while she worked.

Sam Carter finished her experiment, leaned back in her ergonomically correct chair, reached for her cup of coffee and smiled at her teamie. "Oooh." She inhaled the fragrance. "You broke out the good stuff." She took a sip and sighed in appreciation.

Daniel smiled impishly at her. "You're worth the good stuff, Sam."

"Careful, you'll turn a girl's head." She lowered the cup and looked at him curiously. "So what's up, kind sir?"

"Want to go out to dinner tonight?"

"Sure." She looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Just us?"

He shrugged. "Yea, why not?"

"No reason, it's just not our normal modus-operendi. What time?"

"Seven?"

"Seven's good." She nodded easily. "Daniel, what's going on?"

"I think we need to talk...really talk." He dropped his eyes to the floor, then looked directly at her. "We need to figure out what we're playing at here."

She put the cup down and nodded. "You're right. Talking is good."

"Seven?"

"Seven. I'll pick you up."

"Okay, see ya."

Daniel turned and walked out of her lab.

That evening Sam waited nervously in her living room for Daniel to pick her up. She was wearing a conservative blue a-line skirt and a pale silver silk shirt. She had to laugh at herself; it felt almost like a date. With Daniel. Her 'little' brother. Her conversation with Janet about the 'possibilities' came back to her. Janet had looked at her in confusion. "Kid brother?" The other woman had shaken her head at Sam. "Honey, you been looking at the wrong parts if you think he's a kid brother type! That man is gorgeous!"

Before Sam had never even considered a romantic relationship with him. When she had first met Daniel Jackson on Abydos he was married to the gorgeous, dark beauty, Sha'uri. Then for the next three years, he had searched unfailingly for his lost love. When her ultimate death at the hands of their teammate, Teal'c, had been caused by Ammunet's attack on Daniel, she had thought he would go mad with grief. Then, things had evened out, Daniel had made his decision, their relationships changed a bit in allowance of the new status quo. Their friendship had weathered many trials, tribulations and experiences and the four members of SG1 had formed a family of sorts. Now, this could all be about to change.

Several weeks ago, at a group bar-b-que, Colonel O'Neill had thrown out a plan. He'd been well lubricated by food and beer at the time, she was sure, or he never would have voiced his idea to them. In fact, he had come by her office later and apologized for 'spouting his far-fetched idea that was none of his damned business'. She had easily forgiven him but not so easily forgotten his plan. That she and Daniel should have a baby, their baby, because it would be a good 'match' and it would give them the family that they'd both been denied. She'd even gone so far as to consult her friend and doctor, Janet Fraiser. While she hadn't been overly effusive about the idea, Janet certainly hadn't tried to dissuade her, commenting that whatever 'you two geniuses figured out' would be right.

Now she was waiting at the door like a schoolgirl expecting a prom date. It was all beginning to take on an aspect of the surreal. But almost as if trying to reassure her of the reality of the situation, Jackson, in a very Daniel-like fashion was running late.

He was famous for being late. The Colonel got to the point where would tell Daniel to be in the Gateroom at 0930 when they were scheduled to leave at 1000 hours. That way, O'Neill had said, they'd only leave a little late, say five or so minutes, instead of thirty- five or forty minutes late. Of course, the younger man had figured his ploy out quickly and would, on purpose, add an extra thirty minutes to his time schedule somewhere. But after a time or two of playing the game, the young archeologist had started making a real effort to adhere to the assigned schedule and usually things would work out for the best. But, ultimately, the Colonel admitted, there were two time lines, Daniel time and SGC time, and if they were lucky the two would converge somewhere in the correct vicinity.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

At seven twenty, the silver Audi pulled up in front of her house and Daniel made his appearance at her doorway looking a little ruffled and wind blown but definitely yummy in a blue cable knit sweater and black jeans. She opened the door as he pressed the doorbell button. "Hi Daniel."

"Ah, hi Sam, sorry I'm late." He managed to get out. "I had a little trouble getting away from Jack. He decided to play 'harass the Scientist' tonight and I was it." Daniel gave her a small grin. "I didn't want to tell him what my, uh, our plans were."

She laughed merrily at the thought of the two men, one a curious Colonel and the other a man who couldn't tell the aforementioned Colonel a good lie on a big money bet. "So what did you say to him?"

"Oh, you know, oil change."

"Oil change? Daniel, I've been called many things, but never an oil change."

He started to laugh with her. "I should hope not."

She cast her eyes at him teasingly. "Now, a lube job maybe...or a good tune up."

Daniel looked up at her quickly, then blushed when he realized he was being teased.

She continued on as he bravely escorted her down her walkway. "And a little timing adjustment may be in order."

When they got to his car, he opened the door for her and handed her down into the low slug coupe, he protested laughingly. "Okay, okay...if I had wanted to be abused I would have asked Jack to come along."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

They pulled up to a small, unassuming building with a sign that announced "Der Castro Haus, Ist das lieben schoen". It appeared to be a house that had been reconditioned into a restaurant. Daniel pulled into the small parking lot and the two friends entered the cozy establishment. The waiter, in a white uniform, met them at the door. "Hi Daniel."

"Hi Tommy, reservations for two."

The young man nodded at Carter and led the way into a room seating them at one of the small candle lit tables. He presented them with a menu and looked at Daniel.

Daniel smiled slightly. "A good Riesling, please."

"Of course, and we have a wonderful soup for appetizer and of course the brown bread."

"That will be fine." Jackson looked at his 'date', then back to Tommy. "What's good tonight?" Jackson asked perusing the menu.

"Well, the special is the Bratwurst, but I recommend the Yeager schnitzel. The pork."

Daniel looked at Sam who nodded her agreement. "Sounds good, two of the schnitzels"

"Good, Daniel. I think you'll be very pleased. I'll be back shortly."

Sam smiled at her dinner companion. "You must eat here a lot."

"Yea, It's hard to find a good German restaurant, though this is not really German in the strictest sense of the word. Its Alsatian. The flavors are a little different, just a touch of French in the seasonings." He offered. "Their Yeager is a wonderful wine sauce."

In due course the meal was delivered and the wine tasted and accepted. As they settled down to eat, Sam looked at him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, ah...You had said you talked to Janet." Daniel reminded her.

"Yea, She was a little surprised." Sam admitted.

"I'll bet." He nodded. "I'm still a little surprised."

"Yea, me too." They sat for a moment staring at the table ware.

"So, ah..." Daniel prompted.

"Well, I'm fine. All systems go. She said to get off the pill and go a couple of months before... starting anything...to get the hormones out of my system."

He nodded, thoughtfully.

"She guessed it was you, but the secret's safe with her." She looked across the candlelit table. "Oh and she told me that you are definitely not 'a little brother type'. No matter what I feel, we're not related. It's not incest. She has proof."

He looked up at her startled. "Proof? What proof?"

Sam picked up the wineglass and took a sip. "DNA. It doesn't match."

"Oh. Did you think it would?" He asked curiously.

"No, I've just all ways considered you my younger brother..." she smiled a little smile at him. "No real reason, I just..."

He smiled back at her. "Yea, me too, sis. What else did she say?"

Sam shrugged. "She said we were both old enough and smart enough to figure it out on our own."

Daniel sat a moment with a thoughtful look on his face. Carter nudged him gently under the table with her foot. "Penny for your thoughts."

He flashed her a quick grin. "Sorry, just thinking of my parents and what they'd say." He reached over and touched her hand. "They'd like you a lot."

"I'd like them a lot. I know how much they must have given to you in those early years...for it to have lasted so long, for you to be you."

He smiled gratefully at her. "What's your Dad going to say?"

Sam shook her head. "I honestly don't know. He's changed so much...since Selmac."

"I can imagine." Daniel said dryly.

"But not in a bad way, Dad was always career driven. Then when my Mom died...well, he hid in his work." She shook her head. "And while he never actually pushed me into the Military fast track, he uh, well, he encouraged awfully hard. Selmac has actually made him realize a lot of home truths."

"Like?"

"Like there's more to life than just work and success. There's the living of it." She shook her head in wonder. "But to answer your question, I don't know how he'll react... and I really don't care, either." She took a bite of her meal then a mischievous light appeared in her eyes. "Oh, I also asked Janet about A.I."

"Oh?" His voice was very level as he lifted his wine glass to take a sip. "And what did she say about it."

"She used the term 'turkey baster'." Sam was rewarded for her turn of phrase by Daniel nearly expelling a mouthful of wine on the white starched tablecloth. Without any pity she continued. "And cows." He choked again, this time into his napkin. "Kind of ruined the whole idea for me. Are you all right?" As he coughed a little more and nodded at her over the cloth. "Then I asked her about 'invitro'."

"What did she say to that?" Daniel managed to choke out in a small voice.

Carter made a face. "Shots, harvesting things, more shots." She shook her head. "Nope, her recommendation was to do it the way Mother Nature had intended."

He looked a little blank.

She took pity on him. "Sex, Daniel. We'll have to have sex."

"Oh." He looked a little...perplexed.

"Daniel, we don't have to do this at all you know." She said gently. "Heck, it wasn't even our idea."

"Sam." He said gently. "Sam, I'm sorry. I just kind of went all spacey for a while there." He leaned over conspiringly. "I think it was the turkey baster."

She giggled at his serious expression. "I had the same problem, only it was a strawberry margarita."

He smiled back at her for a moment. "I told Teal'c."

"You what?" It was her turn to be startled.

"Well, I had to. I mean, we'd be screwing up his team too." Daniel looked guilty. "I didn't mean to..."

"No, no. You were right." She admitted. "We will be affecting his place at the SGC. I just hadn't thought of it." Looking Daniel curiously she asked. "What did he say?"

Daniel chuckled remembering the conversation. "He thinks it's a wonderful idea. Asked me how long the human gestation period was and said he would 'guard' me while we were off on a mission, like he hasn't been guarding me since day one." He bravely picked up his wineglass again. "He was surprised at Jack talking about retirement. Said he was too young."

Sam nodded her agreement with their absent friend. "He's right. It's such a waste for the Colonel to have to retire."

"I think so too. Why is that?"

"I guess the Medical Field established the guidelines years ago, and nobody has ever challenged them." She looked up at Daniel. "Most people see an early retirement as a benefit." She sipped her wine. "You know, give them 30 years, you can retire at 50." She shrugged. "Of course, those people have lives."

"We have lives."

"Yea, sure we do." She smiled at him. "Where did you spend last Friday night?"

"At Jack's. Oh, I see." He smiled at her expression. "Hey, the food is good and the beer is cold."

"And I spent last Friday over at Janet's playing chess with Cassie." She shook her head. "Face it Daniel, we're boring. Your best friend is your boss; my best friend is my doctor."

"So what, Sam?" He demanded. "So what! How many people go to work everyday and see the things we do, do the things we do?" He put his glass down and emptied the bottle in their glasses. "Do you know how many people sit at home at night, go to sleep, get up in the morning, go to little dead end jobs, come home, sit on the couch watching TV, then go to bed just to get up the next morning and start all over again. So my best friends are my boss and my two co-workers, so what? I happen to think they're pretty terrific people."

She smiled and nodded. "Confidentially, so do I."

Daniel had gotten another one of 'those' looks on his face. Sam waived her hand in front of his face. "Now what?" She demanded.

"Oh, I was just thinking."

"About?"

He grimaced. "How about you and Jack?"

"He turned me down, remember?"

"He asked you to marry him." He prodded gently.

"No, Daniel. He said he'd marry me if I wanted to be married." She took another sip of wine. "It's not quite the same thing." Sam looked at him. "I'm perfectly capable of doing without 'that' hanging over me, thank you very much."

"But I thought...During the Zatark thing...he said he'd rather die...that he felt more for you than he should."

She smiled at him and shook her head. "Daniel, he wouldn't have left you or Teal'c either. He cares more of all of us 'than he should'. Look, most commanders, team leaders, whatever...they have to make the hard decisions. And they do everyday...leaving people behind, sacrificing their people and themselves. That doesn't mean they don't care about them. With the Colonel though, it's different, it's more personal."

Daniel twirled his half-empty wineglass in his fingers. "He left me behind on Klorel's ship. I told him to"

"Because he thought we were all going to die." She said gently, taking the glass out of his hand and grasping it with her free hand, holding it firmly. "And we had to try and save Earth."

Daniel nodded.

"When we thought you were dead, on Nem's planet. Well, after the funeral, he had a wake at his house. He left and went outside. The General followed him out and watched the Colonel bash his car window out with a hockey stick. Then he said he was going to...retire. But I think we all knew what he meant. Daniel, he won't, can't leave any of us behind. We're his family, all of us, and he...well, that's who he is."

The young man nodded. "The first man in or the last man out. Our guardian angel...well our guardian anyway."

"Angelic doesn't quite fit him does it?"

"Oh, I don't know...but...maybe more a Saint George or Saint Patrick."

She looked at him, not getting the connection. "Saint Patrick? I know he's Irish...."

"No actually he was English Roman, but he is credited with running all the snakes out of Ireland. One of his miracles."

"And Saint George?"

"The Dragon Slayer. Rescued a Libyan Princess from a dragon in exchange for baptizing all the town's citizens. He's the Patron Saint of England."

She shook her head at him. "Honestly, Daniel. The things you know."

He shrugged. "That's what they pay me for." He signaled the waiter who appeared magically with the bill.

"Everything all right, Daniel?"

"Perfect Tommy. You were right about the Yeager Schnitzel."

"Thank you. And bring your friend back," He leaned over slightly to Daniel. "She's a doll baby." Sam blushed and turned her face away, running her hand through her hair.

Daniel handed him cash and told him to keep the rest for a tip. Tommy saluted them and left. As they left the restaurant, Sam kissed Daniel on the cheek. "Thanks for the wonderful evening."

It was Daniel's turn to blush. "See, we do to have a life. Even Tommy thinks you're a doll-baby." He opened the car door and handed her in.

"Thanks, I think."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The drive to Sam's house was smooth, easy and very comfortable. Daniel parked in front and escorted her to her door. As she opened the door, she turned and looked at him. "Do you want to come in?"

He smiled sweetly at her, then shook his head. "I'd love to Sam, but...well, I've got stuff I've got to finish for an eight o'clock briefing in the morning. SG11 is working on a trade agreement with the Harkonons. I have to do PowerPoint slides when I get home."

"Oh, be sure to invite the Colonel." She teased.

"Yes, of course. That way he could snore through the briefing and harass me about tonight. How could I miss all of that?"

"Well, if you must." Sam leaned into him and kissed him gently on the mouth. After a split second of hesitation, he returned it with interest putting his arms around her waist.

"Wow." He remarked when they separated.

"Wow, yourself. Desensitization technique." She smiled at him. "You don't kiss like a little brother."

"DNA doesn't match, remember." He looked at her with apology. "My timing really is bad here, Sam. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She laughed at him gently. "I'll see you in the morning...after the power point. I'll have you some coffee and cookies waiting." She released him from their hug. "I'll defend them from the Colonel, I think I'll be the scientist of choice tomorrow."

"It is your turn." He turned and walked away to his car. She watched as he got in and drove away. Then she turned and went into her house, switching out the light as she closed the door.


End file.
